Come Alive (Audio)

Satan has run a very successful campaign to draw the modern Church into a place of complacency. One of our chief missions as followers of Christ is to share what He has done for us with others. Yet, as Pastor Mark asks in today’s message, when’s the last time we did that? When’s the last time we talked with a lost person about the soul-saving love that Christ demonstrated for us on the cross? Most of us are afraid – it makes us uncomfortable to even think about it. It’s time to step out of that comfort zone. We have a message that needs to be spread, and to keep it hidden away is selfish and unloving.

Satan has run a very successful campaign to draw the modern Church into a place of complacency. One of our chief missions as followers of Christ is to share what He has done for us with others. Yet, as Pastor Mark asks in today’s message, when’s the last time we did that? When’s the last time we talked with a lost person about the soul-saving love that Christ demonstrated for us on the cross? Most of us are afraid – it makes us uncomfortable to even think about it. It’s time to step out of that comfort zone. We have a message that needs to be spread, and to keep it hidden away is selfish and unloving.

We can’t follow God on our own terms. To follow Him is going to be hard. We are going to be stretched and pushed outside of our comfort zones. We often esteem David as having some special qualities that made him exceptionally equipped to serve as God’s servant. Yet, as Pastor Mark points out in today’s message, the only way that David may have been special was in his inadequacy. As a shepherd, he was at the bottom of the social ladder. He wasn’t the best looking, tallest or strongest. He probably wasn’t the smartest either. Yet, God took him and anointed him to serve a crucial role in leading His people.

We can’t follow God on our own terms. To follow Him is going to be hard. We are going to be stretched and pushed outside of our comfort zones. We often esteem David as having some special qualities that made him exceptionally equipped to serve as God’s servant. Yet, as Pastor Mark points out in today’s message, the only way that David may have been special was in his inadequacy. As a shepherd, he was at the bottom of the social ladder. He wasn’t the best looking, tallest or strongest. He probably wasn’t the smartest either. Yet, God took him and anointed him to serve a crucial role in leading His people.

God does not want complacent, idle followers. To follow requires that we get up off our couches – out of our places of comfort – and go to the places that Jesus is going. There certainly is a time and place for resting in God, but that should only be a part of our spiritual walk, not the whole thing. As Pastor Mark continues to lead us through our study of 1st Samuel, we are reminded that we need to get up and seek God’s will. As we get out there and do the things He calls us to, loving others with the grace that He extended to us, we will find fulfillment and joy that can’t be found elsewhere.

God does not want complacent, idle followers. To follow requires that we get up off our couches – out of our places of comfort – and go to the places that Jesus is going. There certainly is a time and place for resting in God, but that should only be a part of our spiritual walk, not the whole thing. As Pastor Mark continues to lead us through our study of 1st Samuel, we are reminded that we need to get up and seek God’s will. As we get out there and do the things He calls us to, loving others with the grace that He extended to us, we will find fulfillment and joy that can’t be found elsewhere.

When we cling to our sins we are playing a dangerous game. We may keep it hidden away from our friends and family, but, just like a slow moving cancer, it will eat away at the cage we’ve put it in and work its way into the rest of our lives. Even if we succeed in keeping it secret, it will have a negative effect on everything it touches. As Pastor Mark challenges us in today’s message, we need to put that sin to death… and burn the remains. We can only do that with the help of the Holy Spirit. When we bring that dark cancer before the Lord, He will help us completely eradicate it from our lives.

When we cling to our sins we are playing a dangerous game. We may keep it hidden away from our friends and family, but, just like a slow moving cancer, it will eat away at the cage we’ve put it in and work its way into the rest of our lives. Even if we succeed in keeping it secret, it will have a negative effect on everything it touches. As Pastor Mark challenges us in today’s message, we need to put that sin to death… and burn the remains. We can only do that with the help of the Holy Spirit. When we bring that dark cancer before the Lord, He will help us completely eradicate it from our lives.

God is love… That’s a beautiful message, but the problem is that we don’t understand love all that well. We think love means no confrontation. We think it means we’ll feel good all the time. That simply is not the case. As Pastor Mark reminds us in today’s message, we are sinful people. We inherited a nature that seeks self above others. To preach a Gospel that ignores that sinful nature is to neuter the Gospel. We need salvation because of our rebellion against God. If we continue down that path, we will suffer in separation from Him for eternity, but when we accept Christ’s gift, He changes us from the inside out.

God is love… That’s a beautiful message, but the problem is that we don’t understand love all that well. We think love means no confrontation. We think it means we’ll feel good all the time. That simply is not the case. As Pastor Mark reminds us in today’s message, we are sinful people. We inherited a nature that seeks self above others. To preach a Gospel that ignores that sinful nature is to neuter the Gospel. We need salvation because of our rebellion against God. If we continue down that path, we will suffer in separation from Him for eternity, but when we accept Christ’s gift, He changes us from the inside out.